LAS VEGAS – While far from a barnburner, Raphael Assuncao‘s unanimous-decision victory over L.C. Davis assures he’ll have a home in the world’s top mixed-martial-arts promotion.

The Brazilian featherweight used his always-dependable ground game and improved striking skills to post a much-needed victory in the featured preliminary-card bout at Thursday’s WEC 52 event.

It’s the second-to-last show before the WEC is merged with its sister promotion, the UFC, in January.

The event took place at The Pearl at the Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas, and the untelevised prelims preceded the night’s Versus-televised main card.

Despite both fighters coming off losses, Assuncao vs. Davis featured two of the 145-pound division’s most proven competitors.

Assuncao, though, set the tone early by securing dominant ground positions on Davis’ takedown attempts, matching him punch for punch during exchanges, and eventually frustrating his opponent, who couldn’t implement any real game plan during the three-round fight. In the end, Assuncao earned the clean sweep on the judges’ scorecards for a 30-27 victory.

Prior to the win, Assuncao (15-3 MMA, 3-2 WEC) suffered back-to-back losses to Urijah Faber and Diego Nunes. Today’s win was his first in more than a year. Davis (16-4 MMA, 3-2 WEC), meanwhile, has dropped two straight since he opened his WEC career with three consecutive decision wins.

Once one of the WEC’s brightest stars, Nigerian-born lightweight Anthony Njokuani entered WEC 52 hoping to avoid a third consecutive loss and what likely would be a firing from the organization. Against Navy veteran and WEC newcomer Edward Faaloloto, he acomplished just that.

Using a well-balanced attack with clearly improved takedown defense, a dominant ground game, slicing elbows and dangerous strikes from the clinch, Njokuani simply beat down and wore out Faaloloto en route to a second-round TKO victory.

While a soft-spoken and extremely friendly guy outside the cage, Njokuani dialed up the intensity and loudly grunted with each of the many blows he delivered. The strikes proved especially effective in the second round, when a Muay Thai clinch and knees to the body left Faaloloto unable to defend. A big right hand sealed the deal and sent his opponent to the mat, and Njokuani earned the TKO stoppage at the 4:54 mark of the round.

“I saw the first knee kind of took him down, so I said … let’s continue more knees,” he said. “That’s when I saw the opening for the elbows.”

The win over Faaloloto (5-1 MMA, 0-1 WEC) allowed Njokuani (13-4 MMA, 4-3 WEC) to get back in the win column after recent first-round-stoppage losses to Shane Roller and Maciej Jewtuszko.

Dustin Poirier desperately needed a win, and against fellow lightweight Zach Micklewright, he got one in swift fashion.

From the opening bell of the fight, the Louisiana-based slugger unloaded a steady stream of heavy blows. Micklewright never fully adapted to the onslaught of strikes, and within seconds, he was wobbled by the mounting blows. Once he put his opponent against the cage, Poirier fired off nearly two dozen unanswered punches that ultimately forced referee Kim Winslow to halt the bout just 53 seconds after it began.

Micklewright never hit the deck during the fight, but once it was waved off, he collapsed to the mat in an obvious daze.

“I went back to the drawing board and said, ‘What got me here?'” said Poirier, who’s used punches to claim five of his eight victories. “That’s fighting, and that’s what I did tonight.”

Poirier (8-1 MMA, 1-1 WEC) successfully rebounded from a decision loss to Danny Castillo in his WEC debut, which came earlier this year at WEC 50. Micklewright (7-2 MMA, 1-2 WEC), meanwhile, could be on the chopping block following his second consecutive WEC defeat.

Despite a promotion to the top organization for his weight class, fast-rising bantamweight Michael McDonald showed no signs of slowing down and posted his 11th stoppage win in 11 carrer victories with a swift first-round submission win over Clint Godfrey.

McDonald struck quickly with a straight right hand that dropped his opponent. Godfrey quickly recovered and stuffed a takedown attempt, and then he slammed McDonald nearly headfirst into the canvas. But despite being on his back, McDonald remained patient and methodically looked for an opening, which came midway through the round when he secured a fight-ending armbar at the 2:42 mark.

It admittedly was an emotional WEC debut for the California-based fighter.

“You have a lot of emotions,” McDonald said. “You either have to embrace it or get angry. I chose to embrace it.”

McDonald (11-1 MMA, 1-0 WEC) now has won four straight fights, and he’s posted 10 first-round stoppages in his 11 career wins. Godfrey (11-3 MMA, 0-2 WEC), meanwhile, faces an uncertain future after going winless in his first two WEC fights.

In an early “Fight of the Night” candidate that proved difficult to score, longtime WEC fighter Cub Swanson narrowly edged Mackens Semerzier in a fast-paced featherweight throwdown that ended with a standing ovation.

The two fighters kept a frantic pace throughout the three-rounder, and neither was hesitant to stand and trade in the pocket. Even most takesdowns resulted in short ground battles as each fighter quickly returned to his feet.

A late-third-round takedown, ground and pound, and rear-naked-choke attempt sealed the round and 29-28 victory for Semerzier on the MMAjunkie.com scorecard, but the judges didn’t agree, and Swanson earned the split-decision nod via scores of 29-28, 28-29 and 29-28.

“When it’s in the judges hands, you never know, but I felt I had it the whole way,” Swanson said of the victory.

Swanson (15-4 MMA, 5-3 WEC), who’s alternated between wins and losses in his past five fights, could pick up his third “Fight of the Night” bonus in his past four wins. Such a bonus, meanwhile, may be the only thing to salvage the WEC/UFC career of Semerzier (5-3 MMA, 1-3 WEC), who’s now dropped three straight fights since he scored a stunning upset of Wagnney Fabiano in his promotional debut back in 2009.

In the night’s opening bout, Brandon Visher proved no match for Canadian featherweight Yves Jabouin, who used dominant striking and an effective ground game to earn a shutout unanimous-decision victory.

Jabouin fired off and connected with punches and kicks from varying levels as Visher failed to find his rhythm. And even when his Hawaiian opponent attempted to take the fight to the mat, Jabouin continually overpowered him for dominant top positions. Although he never was able to secure a fight-ending submission, Jabouin did enough to win all three rounds and take the fight 30-27 on all three judges’ cards.

“I’m very happy with my performance because in my previous fights, I wasn’t able to showcase my striking,” he said. “Tonight, I felt I was able to showcase my wrestling, as well.”

The victory was a much-needed one for Jabouin (15-6 MMA, 1-2 WEC), who suffered losses to divisional standouts Rafael Assuncao and Mark Hominick in his first two WEC fights. Visher (13-0 MMA, 1-2 WEC), meanwhile, is tagged with his second consecutive loss since a 13-0 start to his pro career.